Group home plight needs long-term fix

Some 1,400 people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities will have homes for at least another month. Their plight became a bigger deal than it should have been due to partisan politics.

Starting Jan. 1, Medicaid will no longer pay for personal care services such as assistance with bathing, dressing and eating. The state made the change after federal officials said North Carolina was using the wrong criteria to determine eligibility.

The General Assembly last year set up a $39.7 million fund to pick up the expenses for residents of adult care homes. But those in group homes were excluded. The distinction is that group homes are generally smaller and specifically for people with mental or developmental issues.

After the problem was discovered, action was delayed by distrust between Gov. BevPerdue, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

The Republicans wanted to call a special session to find the money, but Perdue didn't like that idea. Previously, the General Assembly had gone beyond the call of a special session to take up additional veto overrides. Legislative leaders pledged not to do that this time, but the governor remained wary.

Last week, the governor announced she was moving $1 million within the Department of Health and Human Services to continue the aid through January, giving the General Assembly time to come up with a long-term fix during its regular session.

The money in question is from a rental assistance fund, and that is how it will be used. Still, it helps group-home owners pay the bills.

"It does require the legislature to act quickly when they reconvene," HHS Secretary Al Delia said at Perdue's press conference. The General Assembly will organize Jan. 9 but is not due to begin business until Jan. 30.

Earlier reports were that the exclusion was an oversight that occurred when a last-minute change to a technical corrections bill in the Senate put the word "only" after "adult care homes."

But the governor's office has a different scenario. Legislative leaders knew group-home residents would lose the assistance but didn't realize this would cause them to lose their homes, the office said in a news release.

Medicaid pays for roughly one-third of the cost of caring for these residents, and some operators said they could not remain in business without help, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.

The governor also will contact federal officials on behalf of Special Care Unit residents with dementia who are to receive fewer hours of personal care. She is asking that those who appeal the cutback are allowed to continue the present level of reimbursement until the General Assembly can act.

There is an adage that laws are like sausages in that you don't want to watch them being made. Maybe, but someone needs to look. Often, as in this case, a single word can have dramatic consequences in the real world outside the halls of government.

Once the size of the problem became evident, the wheels of correction turned very slowly. "Over the past few weeks," the governor said in a statement, "it has been made clear to me both that this threat is very real and that the General Assembly as a whole was not aware ? that this policy change could result in residents being made homeless."

OK, so why did it take weeks to find even a one-month stopgap?

It had better not take that long to extend the assistance. A group-home resident told the News & Observer, "I hope the legislature will take it up when they come back in January and fix it for good."

So do we.

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Group home plight needs long-term fix

Some 1,400 people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities will have homes for at least another month. Their plight became a bigger deal than it should have been due to partisan politics.